On February 24, 2024, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) confirmed that registrants for the FY 2025 cap must possess a valid, unexpired passport or travel document at the time of registration.
- The passport or travel document (for foreign nationals who may be stateless) provided must be the one the beneficiary, if or when abroad, intends to use to enter the United States if issued an H-1B visa.
- Each beneficiary must only be registered under one passport or travel document. H-1B employers are required to provide the passport or travel document expiration dates for all registrants.
This may be a challenge to registrants may not have a valid passport during the H-1B registration period (May 6 – May 22, 2024):
- Starting with the FY 2025 Cap, employers cannot file a registration for a foreign beneficiary who does not have a valid passport.
- If the foreign beneficiary has a valid passport when she or he is registered by the employer, but renews the passport before the filing of the H-1B petition, the employer can include copies of both passports and provide an explanation of the renewal.
- If the foreign beneficiary cannot renew the passport, employers should enter the expiration date of the most recently issued passport.
- If the validity of a foreign beneficiary's passport has been officially extended beyond its original date of expiration, the employer must enter the extended expiration date. Evidence of the renewal by decree must be uploaded in the registration form's evidence section.
- USCIS has indicated, nevertheless, that the number of foreign beneficiaries without a passport or travel document is small.
Takeaway: In order to be successful, FGI advises that all registrants need a passport that is valid for months into the future, because passport information provided on the registration should match with the passport the foreign beneficiary will use to enter the U.S. subsequently as an H-1B nonimmigrant.
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